White Tops Red in Men's Intrasquad

NORMAN, Okla. Nearly 200 fans packed into the Sam Viersen Center Saturday as the No. 1 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team held its annual Red-White meet.

In the team's first performance of the season in front of judges, the White squad, led by 2006 NCAA all-around champion Jonathan Horton, defeated senior co-captain Brian Carr's Red team by a score of 158.25 to 156.55.

“I thought today's performance was a good indication of being on track for another excellent season,” OU head coach Mark Williams said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but I'm very excited about our progress.”

Each team sent six gymnasts to compete on each apparatus with the top three scores counting toward the team total.

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Horton, a junior from Houston, Texas, took the all-around title with a score of 54.0 and also took the vault (9.4) and shared the floor exercise title with the Red team's Russell Czeschin (9.4).

Chris Brooks (Red team) turned in an outstanding performance on the high bar, taking the event crown with a 9.5. Brooks also finished second in the all-around standings with a 52.6 total.

The White team's Jake Messina was third in the all-around and was the parallel bars champion with a 9.0. The Matthews, N.C., native also finished second on rings.

Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons (Red team) also had a solid performance, taking the rings title (9.4) and finishing second on the pommel horse, while Jason Laughton (Red) took the pommel horse title and tied for third on p-bars.

Freshman Ian Jackson (White team) left a strong impression in his first action with the Sooners, finishing in the top three on both the vault and floor exercise.

“I was very impressed with the leadership shown by Brian and Jonathan,” Williams said. “The freshmen came in and did a good job fitting into the right places. I thought it was a great start to our 2007 competitive season.”

The Sooners are ranked first in the preseason GymInfo poll after winning four of the last five NCAA championships, including the 2006 title won at the Lloyd Noble Center. OU returns the majority of last year's championship team, including gymnasts with a combined 12 All-America honors from the 2006 NCAA finals.

Oklahoma opens the 2007 season at the Rocky Mountain Open in Colorado Springs, Colo., Jan. 12-13.

Team Results
1. White 158.25
2. Red 156.55

All-Around
1. Jonathan Horton (W) 54.0
2. Chris Brooks (R) 52.6
3. Jake Messina (W) 52.45

Floor Exercise
1T. Jonathan Horton (W) 9.4
1T. Russell Czeschin (R) 9.4
3. Ian Jackson (W) 9.1

Pommell Horse
1. Jason Laughton (R) 8.6
2. Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons (R) 8.5
3. Jonathan Horton (W) 8.4

Still Rings
1. Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons (R) 9.4
2. Jake Messina (W) 9.2
3. Jonathan Horton (W) 9.1

Vault
1. Jonathan Horton (W) 9.4
2. Chris Brooks (R) 9.3
3. Ian Jackson (W) 9.1

Parallel Bars
1. Jake Messina (W) 9.0
2. Jonathan Horton (W) 8.8
3T. Wes Aderhold (W) 8.5
3T. Jason Laughton (R) 8.5

High Bar
1. Chris Brooks (R) 9.5
2. Jonathan Horton (W) 8.9
3. Wes Aderhold (W) 8.7

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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